pirates

Trinidad - A couple from Manchester, UK have been raided by pirates off the coast of Venezuela.  Peter and Betty Lee were sailing up to the Caribbean on their second time 'round, when what looked like a fishing boat approached their yacht Raven Eye at high speed.  A shot was fired, and Peter rammed the attacking vessel broadside, knocking down the leader of the five bandits.  When the pirate stood up and fired directly at Peter, Lee realized he had to surrender.  Kankuntu, the couple's dog, then attacked the boarders, who shot and stabbed the faithful animal.

Somalia - It is very difficult to provide coverage of piracy in Somalia, and this has been very much the case with the "German Tourists" who were abducted last month from the Gulf of Aden. As we've said previously, news is sparse and unreliable, and often one false report is quoted for weeks. This is not the main issue, however. The real problem in reporting stories such as these is in deciding whether our reports are helping the victims or the criminals.

Jama Hirsi Farah, Puntland's state minister for security told the press Wednesday that Somali pirates have demanded $1 million for the release of the German couple, their young son and a French captain who were taken captive by pirates on Monday off the coast of Somalia. A clan elder who is helping to negotiate with the pirates

Pirates have kidnapped four yachties, including a woman and a child, while they were in a small boat off the coast of Somalia's northern Puntland region on Monday. The four crew were seized near the coastal town of Lasqorey yesterday while they were reportedly taking photos from their small yacht (though other sources claim the yacht ran out of fuel). Pirates abducted the four, abandoned the boat on the shore, and are said to have taken the captives into the neighboring mountains.

APRIL 27 UPDATE - PLAYA DE BAKIO HOSTAGES RELEASED BY PIRATES.

SEE UPDATE ABOUT THE CREW AND PIRATES IN THE COMMENTS AREA AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

"It is sad that the American forces off the coast of Somalia are here for fun and are not combatting the pirates," Abdullahi Said Samatar, security affairs minister in Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Puntland. Earlier this week, Somali forces successfully stormed a ship that had been taken by pirates, who Samatar is quoted as saying "crossed the line" when they attacked a vessel under hire by Somali businessmen.